Almost a week ago, Billy and I welcomed Marc William Cunningham and James Robert Cunningham into our family. This past week has been really special and it is amazing how quickly life changes and how priorities change all in an instant. We love Marc and James and can’t wait to bring them home!
Here is the story of the last couple weeks and how they came to earth! J
On Monday February 8, 2010, I had my weekly check up with the specialist that I have been seeing. Each of the previous weeks he had checked my cervix and done a fetal fibronectin test (it tells you if you are going to go into labor in the next 2 weeks). Neither one of these things is fun at all, and when I got to the appointment, the nurse said that the doctor wasn’t going to do either one of these during this visit because my cervix had always been strong and nothing out of the ordinary had been occurring that I was aware of. Instead, all he was planning on doing was hooking me up to a machine to measure the uterine activity and to listen to the babies heart beats for about a half hour. I was so excited and thought this is wonderful….I am not going to have a 2 hour appointment this week! I got all hooked up to the machine to monitor the boys and relaxed in a comfy recliner. Nothing could be better. After having been hooked up to the monitor for about 15 minutes, the nurse came in to check my progress and how the boy’s heart beats. She looked at me and asked if I had been experiencing any contractions. I told her that I hadn’t but I didn’t really know what I should be looking out for since it was my first pregnancy. She said that it’s a tightening in my stomach…I told her that my stomach is always tight because there are two babies in there and I hadn’t felt anything different. She then told me that I was having contractions and they were pretty regular. I told her I didn’t have any idea and even after she told me I couldn’t feel them.
The nurse went back and talked to the doctor and he decided that since I had started having contractions, I should have the fetal fibronectin to see if I tested positive and to see if I should be admitted to the hospital. I took the test and then went home awaiting the results. On Tuesday the doctor’s office called me at work and informed me that I had tested positive and that they recommended that I check into the hospital where they could monitor my contractions. They told me they could not check me in but my OB would have to admit me. I called my OB and made an appointment for the following day and went home from work on bed rest!
On Wednesday afternoon, Billy and I went and saw Dr. Lythgoe. He is my OB and I think he is a wonderful doctor!!! He knows what he is doing and doesn’t stress out too quickly. After he checked me, he said I was dialated to a 1 and that my cervix was starting to soften. He said he was going to give me the option of what I wanted to do….if I watned to go to the hospital or go home and be on bed rest. Since I still wasn’t feeling the contractions and I was going to have a follow up appointment on Monday 2/15/10, I figured I would be ok to go home.
For the rest of that week I was on bed rest. I didn’t mind it this second time because I was getting huge and did not want to be working anymore. As Monday approached, I could feel things were changing and I felt that I would be going to the hospital after my doctor appointment. Sure enough, Dr. Lythgoe said I was dialated to between a 2 and 3 and I could go over to triage at the hospital and they could measure my contractions (which I could barely feel at this point, but I knew when I was having some of them) and after I was monitored, he would speak with triage and we would go from there.
Well, before I knew it, I was admitted to the hospital. Monday afternoon, we had an ultrasound done to measure the size of the babies and to see what their position was. Both were measuring about 5 lbs and both were head down and looking good for having a vaginal delivery. Something that I really appreciate now about Dr. Lythgoe, is that he wanted me to have the boys vaginally. I however, would have chosen to have a c-section to because I was scared to have to push out two babies and since I am diabetic, always assumed that I would have to have a c-section. I didn’t feel like I was mentally prepared to go through labor.
That evening I was put on magnesium to help slow down/stop the contractions and I was given a shot of steroids to help the boys lungs develop. I had that steroid shot at 5:45 on Monday evening, so the goal was for me to make it until Wednesday evening at 5:45. Once you have the steroid shots, it takes 48 hours for their effects to be the fullest. At that point, all we could do was pray that I would make it the 48 hours and the boys could be as healthy as they could be at 33 weeks.
The next two and a half days were horrible. I was so tired and groggy from the medication and I could barely walk across my room to make it to the bathroom…the magnesium makes your legs feel like jello. I could barely keep my eyes open and it was hard to focus on even the T.V. Aunt Shelley and Richard came to visit me on Tuesday and Wednesday and while they were there one of the days, I tried sporting my sunglasses to see if that would help me keep my eyes open but it didn’t! On Wednesday evening they lessened my dose of the magnesium so it made me feel better, but it wasn’t until Thursday morning when they took it off completely did I feel like myself again.
So I made it to Thursday morning, 2/18. My water broke at 4:40 AM and it took a few hours until I could really feel the contractions. It amazed me how quickly the contractions went from hardly anything at all to being in full force. About 10:30 AM I asked for my epidural and was so happy that I didn’t have to wait long to get it. After the epidural was in full force, I was able to relax and rest for about an hour and a half. About 12:30, the nurse checked in on me and said I was 10 centimeters dialated and 100% efface. She made the call to Dr. Lythgoe and I was wheeled out to the operating room. Since I had twins, they deliver all patients in the operating room regardless if you are having a c-section or going vaginally. They do this just in case something goes wrong and you are all ready to have a c-section.
The delivery went well. There were a million nurses and doctors in the operating room…Billy said there were 17 people not including us so we were definitely in good hands and prepared for anything to happen. The pushing was definitely the hardest thing I have EVER done in my life. I pushed Marc out at 2:22PM. He weighed 4 lbs 9 oz and was 18 inches long. After he was out, I was exhausted and didn’t know how I was going to get James out, but I knew I did not want to have a c-section too…so I just got to it! 7 minutes later, at 2:29 PM James was born. He weighed 4 lbs 12 oz and was 19 inches long. I got to briefly see Marc before they took him to the NICU, but didn’t get to see James until later that night!
The boys are in the NICU still and they don’t’ really give you a timeframe to expect to bring them home since it varies with every child. However, both boys are doing well. They are both breathing on their own, learning to eat from a nipple and have a back up feeding tube when they don’t eat all their food. Both have been under lights for Jaundice, but this morning both of their numbers had decreased and hopefully both will be out of the lights soon! Since they have had to be under the lights we are only able to hold them twice a day for a half hour at a time. That is hard because I just want to cuddle and hold them but obviously we want them to get better. Both Marc and James are above their birth weight…neither of them lost any weight after being born! They are adorable and are starting to look more like individuals than just a new born baby.
Billy and I feel so blessed to have our own little family! We are excited for the joys of parenthood. Already they have made us both so happy and we love them both very much!
